#sonic: can we at least wait until my ribs have healed properly

[0vergrowngraveyard]

i paused at the right time. what in the world is that smirk, you little man

[bookpersonmaryj]

an excerpt (well, almost everything I have for the story, actually) of one of my stories, as requested by @whycellothurr (regarding this post) Hope you like it (even if there’s not much of Tsuranga actually it it oops), thanks for asking for it ^-^

(Oh right. spoilers for 11x05 of Doctor Who, cw for injuries and hiding injuries and a bit of angst.)

Ectospleens are such a bother

It’s a while still until they get a ship back to the scrap planet. Her friends gang fam team is solemn and subdued, glad they got through the whole Pting thing but sad so many people died. But they’re okay. That’s all that matters.

The Doctor smiles when she lets them all back inside the TARDIS. “Home, sweet home. You lot must be tired. It’s been a long couple days, how about we all head to bed?” There’s a chorus of agreements and the humans make their way over to the hallway leading to their rooms. It’s Yaz who notices the blonde isn’t following.

“Doctor, aren’t you going to sleep?” she asks. The others stop and turn to look back. With a smile the Doctor explains: “Soon. I’ll just get us off this planet first. Don’t want anything else to happen. I’ll get us into the vortex. Put the TARDIS on autopilot so we can all rest.”

Yaz looks suitably convinced by her excuse, as do the others. “Alright, Doc. Don’t take too long, though,” Graham says. “Goodnight.” She smiles at her gang fam team. “Good night, Graham. G’night, you two.”

Ryan and Yaz say their goodnights and then the humans finally leave the control room, leave the Doctor alone with her TARDIS and her thoughts.

The Doctor waits a few more minutes. Waits until the old girl tells her that her friends new companions are in their rooms. Then the smile slips off her face and she closes her eyes, breathes, tries not to whimper.

A gentle hum echoes through the room. Yellow lights flicker into a deep blue. Concern nudges at the edge of her mind.

“I’m fine.”

A feeling of doubt.

“I am!”

More doubt.

The Doctor sighs. “Alright. I’m not. I’m hurt. But it’s fine, we were at a hospital. They picked us up. ‘S why we were gone for so long. Tsuranga, traveling medical space station. I’m okay.”

A low whining beep tells her the old girl doesn’t believe that.

“Alright, okay, it’s bad.” The blonde hesitates and then admits in a whisper: “It’s really bad. There was a sonic mine. I took the blast for them. Couldn’t not, really. You know me. Always trying to keep them safe, me.”

Her chuckles are hollow and after three seconds she has to stop and gasp instead, hand flying to her abdomen, her ribcage, the pain that radiates through her whole body.

At least one rib is cracked. Her kidneys took a hit, as well as several unimportant and a few important organs. The ectospleen still hasn’t resettled. It’s the least of her problems, however, she only mentioned it to her friends to keep them from worrying. It’s not like they have any idea what, exactly, an ectospleen is or if it’s bad when it’s not settled. Which, alright, it’s rather bad. But cracked ribs are bad, too!

She supposes it’s both a curse and a blessing that the Tsuranga doctors had no idea how to properly treat her. Or even figure out what’s wrong with her. If they’d known, they never would have let her leave. On the downside, the Doctor muses, it’s been four days of unconsciousness in which her injuries haven’t healed yet, which suggests that they were a lot worse before. A reasonable thought, given how she shielded her friends from the blast.

The old girl hums and the lights flicker again. A gentle touch of concern and urgency.

“Yes, I’m going to take care of it now, don’t be so worried. It’s fine. I’m tough, you know that. You know me.”

A feeling nudges her mind again. It’s a mix of emotions and almost-pictures that, broadly, can be translated into something along the lines of ‘yes, I know you, which is why I’m worried and why I’m insisting you take care of that, right now’.

“Yes,” the Doctor mutters, feeling like a child being scolded by their parental figure. She sighs and slowly makes her way down the hall, towards the med-bay.

Yellow lights greet her, flickering to life as she pushes open the door. It’s moved. She could have sworn the med-bay used to be next to the kitchen the last time she was in here. Well, at least she doesn’t have to walk all the way over there, the Doctor thinks as she sends a silent ‘thank you’ at her beautiful ghost monument.

She crosses the room and sits down on an observation table.

--o--

That's all I have!

Thanks for letting me share it! ^-^